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Jubilee  Booklet 
Pros-rams  and  Addresses 


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JUBILEE   BOOKLET 


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FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  PITTSBURGH  SYNOD 

AND 

INAUGURATION    OF 
REV.    EDWARD    S.    BROMER  ^    jO 

TO  THE  CHAIR  OF  PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  IN  THE 
THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  LANCASTER,   PA. 


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PITTSBURGH,  PA.,  OCTOBER  11-15,1921 


JUBILEE   BOOKLET 


PROGRAMS  and  ADDRESSES 


«M 


FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  PITTSBURGH  SYNOD 


AND 


INAUGURATION    OF 
REV.    EDWARD    S.    BROMER 

TO  THE  CHAIR  OF  PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  IN  THE 
THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  LANCASTER,   PA. 

/ 


PITTSBURGH,  PA,  OCTOBER  11-15, 1921 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  C0MPAN1 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  ANNIVEESAEY  AND  THE  INAUGUEAL  SEEVICES 

AT  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  PITTSBUEGH  SYNOD 

IN  GEACE  EEFOEMED  CHUECH,  PITTSBUEGH, 

PA.,  OCT.  15,  1930. 

DAVID    B.    LADY, 

The  Pittsburgh  Synod  of  the  Eeformed  Church  in  the  United 
States  was  organized  in  Grace  Eeformed  Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
February  11,  1870.  The  first  annual  meeting  was  held  in  Buffalo 
on  the  first  Wednesday  in  November  of  the  same  year.  At  the 
annual  meeting,  November  18,  1918,  in  Somerset,  it  was  decided 
to  meet  in  Grace  Church,  Pittsburgh,  in  1920,  in  celebration  of 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Synod's  organization. 

At  the  meeting  of  Synod  in  Jeanette  in  1819  "the  ministers 
of  Pittsburgh,  with  Eev.  F.  C.  Nau,  D.D.,  chairman,  in  consulta- 
tion, Eev.  D.  B.  Lady,  D.D.,  were  instructed  to  prepare  a  program 
for  the  jubilee  meeting  of  Synod." 

Synod  met  on  Monday  evening,  October  11,  1920.  The  special 
anniversary  service  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  October  13. 
Eev.  N.  D.  Darbaker,  D.D.,  presided.  The  scripture  lesson  was 
read  by  Eev.  A.  K.  Kline.  Eev.  Jacob  F.  Snyder  led  the  assembly 
in  prayer.  Eev.  David  B.  Lady,  D.D.,  made  a  brief  introductory 
and  historical  statement.  The  memorial  address  was  delivered  by 
Eev.  A.  E.  Truxal,  D.D.,  and  Eev.  A.  J.  Heller,  D.D.,  offered 
the  closing  prayer.  The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Eev. 
S.  G.  Wagner.  These  features  were  interspersed  with  appropriate 
anthems  and  hymns. 

The  men  participating  in  this  service  were  veterans.  Eev. 
Jacob  F.  Snyder  entered  the  ministry  in  1863  and  has  served  con- 
gregations in  the  Synod  since  that  time.  Dr.  Truxal  and  Dr. 
Lady  began  their  work  in  1872  and  always  served  in  the  Synod. 
Dr.  Truxal  was  born,  brought  up,  catechised  and  confirmed  near 
Greensburg  and  was  a  student  for  the  ministry  in  Westmoreland 
Classis,  the  oldest  Classis  in  the  Synod.  The  other  men  on  the 
program  spent  most  of  their  ministry  in  this  Synod.  Eevs. 
Snyder,  Kline  and  Dr.  Darbaker  were  born  and  brought  up  within 
the  bounds  of  Synod,  in  fact,  in  Westmoreland  Classis,  and  were 
under  the  care  of  this  Classis  while  students  for  the  ministry. 
Eev.  Snyder  and  Dr.  Heller  were  members  of  the  Synod  and  were 
present  at  its  organization. 

The  addresses  delivered  on  this  occasion  were  printed  in  the 

1 


January  number  of  the  Reformed  Church  Review  for  permanent 
preservation. 

An  equally  important  and  interesting  service  was  held  on  Wed- 
nesday evening,  October  14,  the  inaugural  service  for  the  induc- 
tion of  the  Professor  of  Practical  Theology,  Rev,  E.  S.  Broraer, 
D.D.,  elected  a  year  before  by  the  Synod  at  Jeannette,  into  his 
responsible  office. 

This  service  was  in  charge  of  the  officers  of  Synod.  The  presi- 
dent, Rev.  Paul  B.  Rupp,  presided.  The  scripture  lesson  was  read 
by  Rev.  W.  H.  Cogley,  corresponding  secretary  of  Synod.  Prayer 
was  offered  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Bowman,  the  retiring  incumbent  of  the 
chair  into  which  Dr.  Bromer  was  being  inducted.  The  minute 
of  the  election,  the  call  and  its  acceptance  were  read  by  Rev.  J. 
Harvey  Mickley,  D.D.,  stated  clerk  of  Synod.  The  declaration 
and  affirmation  was  administered  by  Rev.  John  W.  Pontius,  one 
of  Synod's  representatives  on  the  Board  of  Visitors  of  the  Semi- 
nary. The  charge  to  the  Professor  was  made  by  Rev.  Paul  B. 
Rupp,  President  of  Synod.  The  Inaugural  Address  was  delivered 
by  Rev.  Prof.  Dr.  E.  S.  Bromer.  The  benediction  was  pronounced 
by  Rev.  Prof.  Dr.  H.  J.  Chri&tman,  President  of  Central  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Dayton,  0. 

These  addresses  are  also  printed  in  this  number  of  the  Review. 


ANNIVEESAEY  ADDEESS,  GEACE  CHUECH,  PTTTS- 
BUEGH,  PA.,  OCTOBEE  13,  1920. 

DAVID    B.    LADY. 

The  word  anniversary  is  evidently  a  combination  of  two  Latin 
words :  Annis,  year,  and  Vertere,  to  turn.  It  means  literally  the 
return  of  the  year.  The  anniversary  of  an  event  is  the  day,  a  year, 
or  two  years,  or  more,  from  the  time  on  which  the  event  took 
pJace.  The  declaration  of  America's  independence  was  made  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1776;  and  every  4th  of  July  since  has  been  an 
anniversary  of  that  act;  and  the  4th  of  July,  1876,  was  the  100th 
anniversary  of  that  act. 

An  anniversary  is  possible  because  time  does  not  move  forward 
in  a  stright  line,  as  the  crow  flies,  or  even  in  a  crooked  line,  like 
a  stream  of  water  flowing  through  valleys,  between  higher  ground 
and  hills,  but  in  circles,  as  the  second,  the  minute,  the  hour,  the 
day,  the  week,  the  month,  the  year,  the  decade,  the  century.  The 
second  is  a  circle,  the  minute  is  a  circle  made  up  of  60  second, 
the  hour,  a  circle  made  up  of  60  minutes,  the  day,  a  circle  made 
up  of  24  hours,  the  week,  a  circle  made  up  of  7  days,  the  year,  a 
circle  made  of  of  52  weeks,  the  century  a  circle  made  up  of  100 
years.  The  years  are  said  to  roll,  as  in  the  hymn  beginning: 
"  When  rolling  years  brought  on  the  day."  Time  is  said  to  roll, 
as  in  the  lines: 

Backward !  roll  backward,  O,  Time,  in  tliy  flight, 
And  make  me  a  boy  again,  just  for  to-night. 

God  made  the  universe,  we  are  told  in  the  biblical  account  of 
the  creation,  in  six  days,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day.  We  com- 
memorate, among  other  things,  the  completion  of  the  creation 
every  seventh  day  of  the  week,  by  resting  from  our  week-day  toil. 

A  year  is  a  complete  circle,  impressively  so.  A  century  is  a 
circle  made  up  of  100  yearly  circles.  A  half  century  is  a  circle 
made  up  of  50  yearly  circles. 

On  the  11th  of  February,  1870,  50  years  ago,  after  the  necessary 
constitutional  steps  had  been  taken  to  make  their  action  ecclesi- 
astically legal,  the  pastors  and  delegated  elders  of  four  Classis, 
west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and  east  of  the  Ohio  line,  met 
in  the  old  Grace  Eeformed  Church  on  the  corner  of  Grant  and 
Webster  Streets  in  Pittsburgh  and  organized  themselves  into  the 

3 


4 

Pittsburgh  Synod,  electing  officers  and  attending  to  some  neces- 
sary preliminary  work. 

At  this  initial  meeting  these  ministers  who  are  still  living  were 
present,  and  took  part  in  the  proceedings:  Walter  E.  Krebs, 
D.D.,  Andrew  J.  Heller,  D.D.,  John  H.  Stepler,  D.D.,  Jacob  F. 
Snyder,  and  Thomas  F.  Stauffer.  Eev.  Jacob  F.  Snyder  and  Eev. 
Dr.  A.  J.  Heller  are  members  of  this  Synod. 

The  first  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  Synod  was  held  in 
Zion's  Eeformed  Church  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  November  of  the  same  year.  In  addition  to  those  still 
living  who  attended  the  meeting  for  organization  in  Pittsburgh 
in  February,  there  were  present  at  Buffalo  in  November,  Eev.  J. 
I.  Swander,  D.D.,  and  Elder  William  E.  Barnhart.  All  the  others 
have  gone  over  to  the  great  majority. 

The  Synod  has  passed  its  childhood,  its  youth,  its  early  man- 
hood, and  is  now  in  the  full  vigor  of  its  mature  life  and  strength. 
And  it  is  hoped  and  expected  that  it  will  prove  its  maturity  and 
strength  by  subscribing  and  paying  more  than  its  full  share  of 
the  Forward  Movement  contribution  of  $11,000,000  which  the 
Eeformed  Church  has  undertaken  to  secure,  as  well  as  by  engaging 
in  its  full  portion  of  the  other  Forward  Movement  activities,  and 
as  a  consequence  securing  for  itself  its  full  share  of  the  Forward 
Movement  blessings. 

In  1783,  137  years  ago,  there  was  one  settled  Eeformed  min- 
ister in  the  territory  now  embraced  in  this  Synod,  the  Eev.  John 
William  Weber,  an  emigrant  from  Germany,  who  closed  his  work 
with  his  translation  in  1816,  and  whose  body  lies  at  rest  in  the 
Muehliesen's  graveyard,  five  miles  south  of  Greensburg,  under  a 
granite  monument  erected  to  his  memory  by  a  grateful  community 
in  1874,  58  years  after  his  death. 

Sixty  years  later,  in  1845,  there  were  in  this  district,  ten 
settled  ministers :  Nicholas  P.  Hacke,  Henry  Koch,  William 
Weinal,  Henry  Earnest  Frederick  Voigt,  H.  G.  Ibbeken,  Henry 
Knepper,  Philip  Zeiser,  George  Leidy,  and  John  Althaus, 

In  this  year  of  Grace,  1920,  77  years  later  still,  there  are  108 
ministers — too  many  to  name  in  a  brief  introductory  address  like 
this. 

Fifty  years  ago  when  organized  the  Synod  had  a  membership 
of  43  ministers,  116  congregations,  8,339  communicants  and  con- 
tributed for  benevolence  $5,649.17.  Twenty-five  years  later,  in 
1895,  there  were  136  congregations,  71  ministers,  16,276  com- 
municants and  the  benevolent  contributions  were  $16,944,  In 
1920,  the  present  year,  there  are  108^  ministers,  158  congregations, 
26,583  communicants,  and  the  benevolent  contributions  are 
$106,600. 

1  This  is  seven  less  than  a  year  ago.  This  decrease  was  caused  by  the 
removal  of  pastors  to  other  sections  of  the  church. 


The  St.  Paul's  Orphans'  Home,  the  orphans'  home  of  this 
Synod,  began  its  work  in  1867,  three  years  before  the  Synod  came 
into  existence,  without  a  foot  of  ground  or  a  dollar  of  money 
except  what  it  was  in  debt  for.  Now  it  has  400  acres  of  land, 
farm  buildings,  cattle  and  farming  implements  and  buildings  for 
the  Home  and  equipment  and  furniture  worth  about  $150,000, 
and  funds  and  securities  on  hand  or  on  their  way  to  the  treasury, 
as  an  endowment,  amounting  to  about  $200,000 — a  total  of  $350- 
000. 

Many  years  ago,  in  1893,  to  be  specific,  this  Synod,  as  a  Synod, 
legally  by  a  change  in  the  charter,  acquired  a  share  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Lancaster,  and  has  in  the  fifty  years  of  its 
existence  contributed  for  permanent  improvements  and  endow- 
ment of  the  Seminary  the  sum  of  $238,552.88,  counting  in  the 
coal  of  the  Beam  farm  recently  sold  for  about  $150,000. 

At  the  same  time  similar  rights,  with  their  attendant  respon- 
sibilities, were  secured  in  Franklin  and  Marshall  College  at  Lan- 
caster. The  Synod  has  contributed  for  permanent  improvements 
and  endowment  of  the  college,  in  these  50  years,  as  nearly  as 
could  be  ascertained,  $131,667. 

Beside  this  these  two  last  named  institutions  own  the  coal  under 
about  1800  acres  of  land  in  Somerset  County,  donated  by  the 
Wilhelm  family;  and  the  prospects  are  that  this  coal  will  soon 
come  into  market  and  that  from  one  fourth  to  three  fourths  of 
a  million  dollars  will  be  realized  from  its  sale. 

Similar  interests  have  also  lately  been  secured  in  Hood  Col- 
lege for  girls  at  Frederick,  Maryland;  but  very  little  has  been  so 
far  given  for  its  support. 

These  facts  have  meaning,  and  are  mentioned  here  as  showing 
the  interest  the  ministers  and  people  of  Pittsburgh  Synod  are 
taking  in  the  cause  of  the  orphans,  the  liberal  education  of  her 
sons  and  daughters,  the  preparation  of  young  men  for  the  min- 
istry, and  of  young  men  and  women  for  positions  of  leadership  in 
the  church  and  community  life. 

These  sums  of  money  and  other  property,  so  generously  con- 
tributed, along  with  the  steady  and  rapidly  increasing  gifts  to 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions  and  other  benevolent  objects  are 
noticed  as  indications  of  the  spiritual  condition  and  progress,  as 
the  decades  passed,  of  our  congregations  and  people,  and  our 
growth  in  grace  and  the  practice  of  piety  and  helpfulness. 

We  have  great  cause  to  congratulate  each  other  on  this  anni- 
versary occasion  on  what  has  been  done  and  to  take  courage  and 
press  forward  to  new  and  greater  progress  and  achievements  in 
the  next  half  century  of  our  history. 


PITTSBUKGH   SYNOD,   1870-1920. 

A.    E.    TEUXAL. 

The  foundations  for  Pittsburgh  Synod  were  laid  by  the  Ger- 
man, Swiss  and  Scotch-Irish  families  that  located  in  western 
Pennsylvania  in  the  early  days  of  our  country.  They  came  from 
eastern  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia.  They  were  men 
and  women  of  strong  physical  constitutions  and  of  heroic  mind 
and  heart,  who  feared  not  to  dare  the  dangers  of  wild  beast  and 
savage  Indian.  And  with  it  all  they  possessed  great  boldness  in 
the  Lord  and  were  supported  in  their  trials  by  their  faith  and 
trust  in  Him.  The  strong  and  steadfast  character  of  these  men 
and  women  who  settled  in  the  forests  and  glades  west  of  the 
Alleghenies  formed  the  firm  and  substantial  foundation  for  the 
church  established  in  this  portion  of  the  country.  For  the  ex- 
pression and  development  of  their  religion  they  erected  in  the 
various  settlements  school  houses  of  a  primitive  character  in 
which  their  youth  were  instructed  during  the  week,  and  the  people 
comforted  and  edified  on  Sunday  by  the  reading  of  sermons,  the 
singing  of  hymns  and  the  offering  up  of  prayers. 

The  first  man  to  minister  unto  these  people  in  spiritual  things 
was  the  licentiate,  John  Conrad  Bucher,  who  had  been  an  ofBcer 
in  Colonel  Bouquet's  regiment  of  Eoyal  Americans.  He  began  his 
labors  in  1764 — 156  years  ago — and  for  five  or  six  years  preached 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  which  now  constitutes  Pitts- 
burgh Synod.  After  a  long  vacancy  he  was  followed  in  1783  by 
Eev.  John  William  Weber  who  ministered  unto  this  scattered  flock 
faithfully  and  selfsacrificingly  for  a  period  of  thirty-three  years. 
Then  came  Eevs.  Henry  Habliston,  Nicholas  P.  Haeke,  John 
Koch  and  William  Winel.  Eev.  Mr.  Haeke  served  the  Greens- 
burg  charge  the  long  term  of  58  years. 

The  pastors  and  congregations  of  this  field  were  originally 
members  of  the  mother  synod  with  its  headquarters  in  the  east. 
In  1819  they  were  organized  into  Western  Pennsylvania  Classis  in 
connection  with  their  synod.  But  in  1836  the  Classis  was  united 
with  the  Ohio  Synod  with  the  view  of  aiding  in  the  establishment 
of  a  seminary  in  the  west.  In  1839  the  Ohio  Synod  formed  itself 
into  a  general  body  and  divided  its  territory  into  three  district 
synods.  Western  Pennsylvania  Classis  becoming  the  first  District 
Synod  of  the  Ohio  General  Synod,    Three  years  later  the  district 

6 


synods  were  again  dissolved,  and  Westmoreland  and  Erie  Classis 
constituted  of  the  First  District  Synod.  In  1850  the  portion  of 
Westmoreland  Classis  north  of  the  Kiskiminetas  river  was  con- 
stituted a  new  classis  under  the  name  of  Clarion.  Later  Clarion 
Classis  was  divided  and  St.  Paul  Classis  formed  out  of  a  por- 
tion of  it.  Westmoreland  Classis  was  connected  with  the  Ohio 
Synod,  but  Clarion  and  St.  Paul  Classis  united  with  the  Eastern 
Synod. 

The  preliminary  requirements  having  been  met,  Westmoreland, 
Clarion,  St.  Paul  and  West  New  York  Classis  were,  on  February 
11,  1870,  organized  into  a  District  Synod  under  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Eeformed  Church  in  the  United  States.  In  1873  two  new 
classis  were  formed — Somerset  composed  of  that  portion  of  West- 
moreland Classis  lying  east  of  the  Laurel  Hill;  and  Allegheny 
composed  of  portions  of  Westmoreland  and  St.  Paul  Classis.  A 
few  years  later  West  New  York  Classis  was  dismissed  for  the 
purpose  of  uniting  with  other  classes  in  the  formation  of  the  Ger- 
man Synod  of  the  East.  In  later  years  the  Hungarian  Classis 
was  added  to  Pittsburgh  Synod,  so  that  at  present  it  is  constituted 
of  six  classes. 

The  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Synod  was  held  in  Buffalo, 
New  York,  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  November,  1870,  when  the 
following  statistics  were  reported :  Ministers  50 ;  congregations 
128 ;  members  9,841 ;  benevolent  contributions  $6',048.  Last 
year's  statistics  were,  ministers  115;  congregations  163;  members 
26,610;  benevolent  contributions  $90,070.  The  Synod  now  has 
fully  two  and  two  third  times  as  many  members  as  at  first  and 
contributes  annually  fifteen  times  as  much  to  benevolence. 

Various  conditions  moved  the  classes  to  ask  for  a  synod  of  their 
own,  some  of  them  of  a  temporary  nature,  but  the  controlling 
motive  was  the  earnest  desire  to  prosecute  the  work  of  Home 
Missions  and  Church  Extension  within  their  own  bounds.  The 
city  of  Pittsburgh  with  its  suburbs  and  the  towns  throughout  the 
various  classes  were  growing  rapidly  in  population  and  wealth 
and  numerous  places  were  opening  for  the  establishment  of  Re- 
formed congregations.  It  was  clearly  felt  that  a  synod  was 
necessary  to  meet  the  pressing  demands. 

All  of  the  classes  had  been  doing  missionary  work  within  their 
several  bounds.  This  was  especially  the  case  of  Westmoreland,  the 
largest  and  strongest  classis  of  Synod.  When  Grace  church  was 
established  on  Grant  street  the  Classis  pledged  $60  to  the  support 
of  the  pastor  and  $1,000  towards  the  purchase  of  the  church  prop- 
erty. It  gave  encouragement  and  support  to  mission  congrega- 
tion in  various  places.  It  became  so  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
missions  that  in  1866  it  elected  one  of  its  ministers,  the  Eev.  F. 
K.  Leevan  to  the  office  of  Missionary  Bishop  whose  duty  it  was 
to  organize  mission  congregations,  procure  pastors  for  them,  supply 


8 

vacant  congregations  and  have  general  management  of  the  mis- 
sionary work  of  the  Classis.  This  Classis,  as  the  other  classes 
did  also,  sought  out  young  men  for  the  Gospel  ministry  and  sup- 
port them  in  their  studies.  In  1871  it  had  11  students  on  its 
roll,  9  of  them  beneficiaries.  The  result  of  these  efforts  and  labors 
on  the  part  of  ministers  and  elders  became  manifest  in  the  revival 
of  interest  among  the  people  in  the  general  affairs  of  the  clmrch. 
This  came  to  view  in  their  benevolent  contributions.  Eev.  John 
A.  Peters,  the  treasurer  of  Classis,  reported  in  1864  $300.18  as 
the  benevolent  contributions  of  the  large  Westmoreland  Classis 
extending  from  Cumberland  to  Pittsburgh.  But  in  1865  he  re- 
ported $603.82;  in  1866  $1,240,79;  and  in  1867  $2,631.97. 

In  1870  the  Synod  at  once  elected  Eev.  F.  K.  T.eevan,  mis- 
sionary superintendent  of  synod.  The  following  year  Eev.  Geo. 
H.  Johnston  was  elected  to  the  position,  and  when  he  removed 
from  the  Synod  Eev.  Mr.  Leevan  served  again  in  that  capacity 
imtil  the  trisynodic  arrangement  was  entered  into  for  the  prose- 
cution of  Home  Missions. 

The  result  of  this  missionary  work  is  seen  in  the  large  flourish- 
ing congregations  in  the  towns  of  synod:  Cumberland,  Hyndman 
Myersdale,  Connellsville  and  Scottdale;  Johnstown,  Derry,  La- 
trobe,  Jeannette  and  Larimer;  Du  Bois  and  Kittaning;  Meads- 
ville,  Sharon  and  Butler;  and  all  of  the  congregations  of  Pitts- 
burgh and  vicinity.  In  fact  all  the  congregations  have  received 
inspiration  and  benefit  from  the  missionary  spirit  if  the  synod 
as  a  whole. 

Pittsburgh  Synod  has  also  been  deeply  interested  in  other 
forms  of  church  work.  St.  Paul's  Orphan  Home  of  Greensville  is 
an  institution  of  the  synod  and  has  been  generously  supported  by 
the  people  of  our  churches  with  contributions,  gifts  and  bequests, 
both  large  and  small.  The  largest  gift  has  been  that  of  Eev.  C. 
E.  Ferner  of  a  few  years  ago  valued  at  more  than  $80,000.  And 
within  the  present  year  Mr.  Daniel  L.  Dillinger  gave  $40,000  to 
this  institution. 

The  colleges  and  seminaries  of  the  church  have  also  received 
the  loyal  support  of  Pittsburgh  Synod.  It  is  in  the  habit  of 
responding  willingly  and  promptly  to  the  special  demands  that 
arise.  When  in  1890  it  undertook  the  establishment  and  endow- 
ment of  a  professorship  in  the  seminary  at  Lancaster  it  raised 
$33,000  for  the  purpose  in  two  years'  time.  In  the  present  year 
its  people  gave  pledges  in  support  of  the  Forward  Movement  to 
the  amount  og  $686,255.62;  nearly  all  of  which  was  secured  in 
one  week's  time.  The  above  sum  has  been  somewhat  increased 
since  the  late  meeting  of  the  General  Synod. 

Individual  members  of  Synod  have  at  different  times  given  liberal 
gifts  and  made  large  bequests  to  our  institutions  of  learning.  The 
Wilhelms  bequeathed  their  large  estate,  valued  at  many  thousandfe 


of  dollars  to  the  college  and  seminary  at  Lancaster;  Abraham 
Beam  bequeathed  his  entire  estate,  lately  disposed  of  for  $1-50,000, 
to  the  seminary;  Valentine  Hay,  Esq.,  of  Somerset,  gave  $30,000 
to  Heidelberg  University  at  Tiffin,  Ohio;  and  F.  W.  Biesecker, 
Esq.,  also  of  Somerset,  lately  contributed  $30,000  to  Franklin  and 
Marshall  College.  All  of  these  liberal  givers  belonged,  and  one 
of  them  still  belongs,  to  Somerset  Classis. 

Thus  we  see  that  Pittsburgh  Synod  has  during  the  past  fifty 
years  been  faithful  and  efficient  in  carrying  forward  the  work  of 
the  Lord  entrusted  to  it.  It  has  zealously  supported  Home  Mis- 
sions and  Foreign  Missions;  maintained  an  Orphans  Home;  con- 
tributed liberally  to  the  colleges  and  seminaries;  is  part  owner 
of  F.  and  M.  College  and  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Ijancaster 
and  of  Hood  College  for  Girls  at  Frederick,  Md.  It  has  from  the 
beginning  until  now  put  forth  earnest  efforts  to  raise  its  ap- 
portionments for  the  benevolent  operations  of  the  church  and  has 
succeeded  fairly  well  in  doing  so.  There  is  therefore  much  cause 
for  us  to  come  before  the  Lord  on  this  anniversary  occasion  with 
thanksgiving  and  praise  for  what  He  has  enabled  us  by  His  grace 
to  accomplish.  At  the  same  time  we  ought  not  to  cherish  a  Phari- 
saical pride  in  what  we  are  and  have  done.  We  also  have  our  short 
comings  and  sins  to  confess.  Our  pastors  have  not  always  been 
f^^lly  consecrated  to  the  Lord  and  our  people  have  not  always 
been  as  faithful  as  they  ought  to  have  been.  We  might  have  done 
greater  things  and  better  things  than  we  have  accomplished.  In 
the  midst  of  our  rejoicing  let  us  not  forget  to  confess  our  sins, 
and  pray  for  divine  grace  that  we  may  henceforth  consecrate  our- 
selves more  fully  to  the  blessed  service  of  our  Lord  and  Savior. 

Pittsburgh  Synod  has  all  along  been  pervaded  by  a  life  and 
spirit  of  its  own.  It  does  not  always  maintain  much  dignity  in 
its  deliberations.  The  members  are  free  and  candid  in  the  ex- 
pression of  their  views  on  the  subjects  before  the  body.  The 
Synod  has  been  composed  largely  of  young  men  and  they  have 
not  been  held  in  restraint  by  staid  dignitaries  of  the  church.  Yet 
important  matters  have  alwa3^s  received  serious  and  earnest  con- 
sideration. On  different  occasions  vital  questions  were  discussed 
thoroughly,  pro  and  con,  during  the  sessions  of  an  entire  day. 
The  Synod  has  been  remarkably  free  of  factions  and  divisions. 
The  members  at  times  divide  honestly  and  earnestly  on  some  sub- 
jects, but  they  all  acquiesce  in  the  conclusions  finally  reached  and 
heartily  cooperate  in  the  work  undertaken.  There  are  no  slackers 
in  Pittsburgh  Synod.  As  a  consequence  the  general  and  special 
work  of  the  church  receives  the  cordial  support  of  every  classis 
and  every  pastor  of  the  Synod. 

The  future  is  now  before  us.  The  conditions  of  our  field  and 
of  the  country  and  of  the  world  are  very  different  from  what  they 
were  fifty  years  ago.     The  Christian  church  is  confronted  by 


10 

problems  and  demands  peculiar  to  the  present  age.  Her  ministers 
and  leaders  are  challenged  to  give  themselves  to  thorough  study, 
earnest  prayer  and  hard  work.  I  am  a  native  of  Pittsburgh  Synod, 
"was  licensed  by  one  of  its  classes,  ordained  by  another,  became  a 
member  of  the  Synod  in  1872,  remained  a  member  ever  since, 
and  if  not  mistaken  attended  all  of  its  regular  and  special  meet- 
ings save  one.  My  course  is  now  about  finished.  If  I  have  one 
regret  it  is  that  I  am  not  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  great  con- 
flict in  which  the  gospel  of  our  God  is  called  to  engage.  The 
work  before  the  church  of  the  living  God  at  the  present  time 
is  an  immense  one.  The  enemy  is  entrenched  in  its  strongholds. 
It  is  imperative  that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  should  have  a 
proper  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  present  condition  con- 
fronting them. 

The  whole  world  seems  to  be  in  the  grasp  of  a  spirit  of  selfish- 
ness, lawlessness  and  godlessness.  This  seems  to  be  especially  the 
case  with  the  people  of  the  so-called  Christian  nations.  There  is 
a  large  amount  of  indifference  in  regard  to  the  church  and  to 
every  other  fundamental  institution  among  men.  Eespect  for  the 
church  and  for  civil  government  and  for  law  is  at  a  very  low  ebb. 
The  leaders  of  Germany  have  constantly  and  stoutly  professed 
their  faith  and  trust  in  God  and  at  the  same  time  declared  the 
gospel  to  be  idealism  that  cannot  be  actualzied,  that  its  principles 
are  applicable  to  individuals  but  not  to  national,  international  and 
military  affairs.  The  government  of  Eussia  has  discarded  the 
church  and  the  Christian  faith.  Every  nation  of  Europe  in  the 
present  turbulent  condition  that  prevails  there  is  actuated  by 
selfishness.  Among  the  working  men  the  world  over  there  seems 
to  be  a  deep-seated  unrest  and  an  ominous  dissatisfaction  with  the 
present  order  of  things.  Our  government  and  our  people  are  not 
free  of  the  power  of  selfishness.  The  only  cause  in  which  the 
people  in  general  seem  to  be  thoroughy  interested  in  is  money  and 
the  comforts  and  pleasures  which  it  can  bring  them.  Many  of 
them  seem  to  be  entirely  in  the  control  of  greed.  Scarcely  one 
third  of  the  members  of  the  church  are  at  the  morning  services 
on  the  Lord's  Day  and  less  than  one  tenth  at  the  evening  services. 
Many  of  them  spend  Sunday  travelling  hither  and  thither  in  their 
automobiles.  The  fear  of  God  has  departed  from  the  hearts  of 
many.  Taking  all  of  these  untoward  and  unpromising  conditions 
into  consideration  it  would  seem  that  the  kingdom  of  the  devil 
were  coming  instead  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  is  the  condi- 
tion the  church  has  to  face  at  the  present  time. 

The  only  thing  that  can  bring  about  a  reaction  and  cause  truth 
and  righteousness  to  prevail  is  the  power  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
this  power  must  be  brought  into  exercise  by  the  church  of  the 
living  God.  Christ  must  be  held  up  before  the  world  and  His 
Gospel  applied  to  every  activity  among  men.     And  the  church 


11 

must  first  of  all  set  herself  right  before  God  and  the  world.  Judg- 
ment must  begin  at  the  house  of  Israel.  The  church  must  re- 
pent of  her  sins,  and  return  whole  heartedly  unto  the  Lord. 
Then  will  she  become  the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the  light  of  the 
world.  To  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  present  day  a  great  Chris- 
tian revival  is  demanded;  not  one  patterned  .after  the  revivals  of 
the  near  and  remote  past,  but  one  that  will  take  permanent  hold 
of  the  hearts  and  minds  and  wills  and  lives  of  men,  so  that  they 
will  make  the  Lord  supreme  in  their  persons  and  their  works. 
This  is  the  work  to  be  accomplished  by  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
a  work  that  will  demand  much  soul-searching  meditation,  earnest 
communings  with  God,  prayerful  study  and  willing  self-sacrificing 
work.  A  great  religious,  moral,  social  and  political  battle  is  im- 
pending for  which  an  army  of  strong  men  is  needed — men  of 
faith  and  bravery  and  determination — men  strong  in  their  con- 
victions of  righteousness  and  truth,  strong  in  the  Lord  and  the 
power  of  His  might.  When  these  requirements  are  met  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  final  outcome.  The  battle  will  be  fought 
and  the  victory  won,  perhaps  by  ways  and  means  that  cannot  now 
be  foreseen. 

Let  us  cherish  the  sure  hope  that  Pittsburgh  Synod  with  its 
ministers,  elders,  deacons  and  people  will  grasp  the  situation  fully 
and  perform  its  part  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  faithfully  and  well 
during  the  next  fifty  years. 


CHARGE  TO  PEOFESSOR  OF  PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY 
BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  SYNOD. 

PAUL    B    RUPP. 

Dear  Brother:  You  have  been  called  to  the  Chair  of  Practical 
Theology,  in  the  Eastern  Theological  Seminary  at  Lancaster,  Pa., 
as  the  representative  of  Pittsburgh  Synod  in  that  institution.  You 
have  accepted  the  call.  It  now  becomes  my  solemn  duty,  in  the 
name  of  this  Synod,  to  charge  you,  first  of  all  to  be  true  to  the 
young  men  who  may  be  hereafter  committed  to  your  instruction 
and  care.  They  will  later  go  in  and  out  among  their  fellowmen 
as  spiritual  guides  and  moral  leaders  and  it  will  rest  upon  you 
and  your  associates  at  the  Seminary  to  cultivate  in  these  future 
ministers  of  the  gospel  studious  habits,  high  ideals  and  standards 
of  personal  integrity  which  will  be  far  above  the  average.  Thus 
you  must  assist  them  in  building  their  foundation  of  moral  leader- 
ship strong  and  deep  in  a  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God.  They 
will  look  to  you  for  counsel  upon  the  things  of  the  Kingdom,  and 
through  you  they  must  be  enabled  to  see  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  the  living  Christ.  Your  responsibility  for  the  example 
you  will  set  them  will,  therefore,  prove  to  be  a  most  grave  one. 
May  you  find  strength  in  the  Lord  to  be  a  "  workman  that  needeth 
not  to  be  ashamed." 

In  the  next  place,  I  charge  you  to  be  true  to  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  which  is  the  spirit  of  truth-seeking.  Never  has  any  genera- 
tion been  such  a  lover  of  the  truth  as  this.  "  Our  old  men  are 
dreaming  dreams "  of  what  might  have  been,  and  "  our  young 
men  are  seeing  visions"  of  what  ought  to  be.  The  age  will  not 
be  put  off  with  platitudes,  half-truths  or  evasions.  And  the  young 
men  who  will  come  under  your  tutelage  will  but  partake  of  the 
spirit  of  the  age.  They  too  will  be  truth  seekers,  and  you  must 
prove  yourself  "a  suffering  servant  of  God"  to  lead  them  into 
deeper  reaches  of  the  truth.  "The  times  are  out  of  joint"  and 
it  will  be  your  task,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  show  these  coming 
leaders  of  our  Church  how  they  may  cooperate  with  God  in  set- 
ting the  times  right.  Men  are  looking  for  panaceas  for  all  human 
ills,  and  they  are  running  to  and  fro  in  their  search  in  a  manner 
which  sometimes  bespeaks  a  hopeless  heart  or  a  fruitless  quest. 
Deep  down  in  their  souls  however,  there  is  a  love  for  truth.  May 
you  respect  that  love  and  guide  their  steps  into  the  ways  of  truth. 

12 


13 

May  you  never  fear  to  revise  your  views  when  God  sheds  new 
light  upon  the  truth  for  you,  and  as  a  humble  thinker  of  the 
thoughts  of  God  may  you  grow  in  wisdom  and  grace  from  more 
to  more. 

Again,  I  charge  you  to  help  our  young  men  cultivate  a  Christ- 
like love  for  humanity,  for  it  is  that  alone  which  will  help  them 
to  become  faithful  pastors  of  their  people.  They  are  not  to  be 
preachers  alone,  but  spiritual  fathers.  The  care  of  souls  will  be  in 
their  keeping.  They,  too,  must  come  to  know  with  Jesus  Christ 
"what  is  in  man" — man's  weaknesses,  frailties,  and  sorrows  and 
sins;  and  with  the  big  heart  of  Jesus  Christ  flooding  their  hearts 
with  whole-souled  love,  they  must  love  man  and  live  for  him.  It 
will  be  your  purpose  to  help  God  make  lovers  of  the  human  race, 
but  you  can  do  so  only  as  you  yourself  enter  fully  into  the  common 
daily  experience  of  the  race.  For  this  age  has  no  place  in  it  for 
theological  ventures.  It  wants  men,  and  it  needs  men,  who  are 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  living  God — of  that  God,  who  in  Jesus 
Christ,  suffers  for  the  sins  of  the  race  and  struggles  with  it  to 
bring  it  into  living  reconciliation  with  him. 

And  to  that  end  I  charge  you  finally  to  be  true  to  him  who  in 
the  very  effulgence  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image 
of  his  person  and  character.  "  The  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  "  will  be 
your  one  goal.  In  him  must  you  find  all  the  necessary  light  for 
the  world's  moral  darkness.  And  through  him  you  must  lead 
your  students  into  the  very  presence  of  God.  His  ideal  of  human 
brotherhood,  built  upon  the  impregnable  rock  of  God's  living 
fatherhood,  you  must  ever  hold  before  the  eyes  of  those  who  will 
look  to  you  for  guidance.  In  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  complete  revela- 
tion of  the  Father's  heart  and  the  goal  of  all  human  evolution 
under  the  directing  hand  of  the  Father  himself,  you  must  find 
your  own  inspiration  for  daily  living  and  the  content  of  your 
theological  instruction. 

Thus  may  you  be  true  to  the  developing  ideals  of  your  students, 
true  to  the  truth-seeking  spirit  of  the  age,  and  true  to  the  loving 
heart  of  the  Saviour  and  Master  of  men,  knowing  that  as  you  thus 
labor  in  the  Kingdom  of  your  God  your  labors  will  not  be  in  vain, 
inasmuch  as  they  will  be  performed  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

May  the  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you; 

May  the  Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious 
to  you; 

May  the  Lord  let  the  light  of  his  countenance  rest  upon  you 
and  give  you  wisdom  and  peace. 


INAUGUEAL  ADDEESS. 


EDWAED   S.  BROMER. 


Mr.  President,  Fathers,  Brethren  and  Friends  of  Pittsburgh 
Synod,  I  am  at  this  moment  keenly  conscious  of  the  grave  import- 
ance and  the  spiritual  significance  of  the  task  which  you  have 
just  laid  upon  me.  My  first  impulse  is  to  turn  away  from  it 
and  cry  out,  "Lord,  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?"  The  an- 
swering consciousness  that,  "  Our  sufficiency  is  of  God,"  alone  can 
satisfy  and  sustain  one  in  such  a  moment ;  for,  only  God  in  Christ 
can  say,  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  for  my  power  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness." 

My  second  impulse  turns  me  toward  you  as  brethren  in  the 
ministry  in  a  deep  feeling  of  humility,  which  is  greatly  intensified 
by  your  own  expressed  appreciation  and  estimate  of  the  importance 
of  the  task  to  which  you  have  called  me.  I  must  confess  that  it 
is  not  so  much  a  feeling  of  gratitude  that  fills  me,  as  one  of  joy 
in  a  mutual  privilege  and  honor  which  permits  me  now  as  a 
professor  of  practical  theology  to  join  with  you  in  the  great  task 
of  developing  an  efficient  ministry  for  the  Church  and  the  King- 
dom of  God.  Your  hearty  and  sincere  call,  your  sustaining  pray- 
ers, and  your  aggressive  Christian  spirit  stimulate  in  me  the  cour- 
age necessary  to  attempt  the  task  assigned.  Permit  me,  there- 
fore, to  express  my  appreciation  of  your  personal  confidence  in 
electing  me  and  the  official  privilege  you  have  now  granted  by 
inaugurating  me  as  the  professor  of  practical  theology  to  con- 
tinue with  you  in  the  fellowship  of  Christ  and  the  building  up 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  among  men. 

According  to  the  constitution  of  our  Church  the  privileges  and 
duties  of  a  professor  of  theology  are  inherent  in  the  ordination  to 
the  Christian  ministry;  for,  it  declares  in  Article  25  that,  "a 
teacher  of  theology  is  a  minister  of  the  Word,  who  has  been  duly 
elected  .and  inaugurated  as  a  professor  in  a  Theological  Seminary 
of  the  Church."  He  is  a  minister  of  the  Word  chosen  to  teach. 
There  is,  therefore,  no  special  ordination.  As  a  professor  of  theol- 
ogy I  am  only  sharing  with  you  as  a  brother  among  brethren,  the 
life  and  work  of  the  Christian  ministry.  It  is  in  full  accord  with 
the  democratic  spirit  of  the  constitution  that  the  ordination  of 
elders,  deacons,  and  the  confirmation  of  members  in  the  laying 
on  of  hands,  point  to  the  fact  that  we  all,  in  the  universal  priest- 

14 


15 

hood  of  believers,  are  partakers  of  the  divine  nature  of  our  Lord 
and  co-workers  in  His  ministry.  As  ordained  ministers  of  the 
Word  we  are  preachers,  or  teachers,  or  missionaries.  By  your 
act  of  election  and  inauguration  I  have  this  evening  been  declared 
a  teacher  in  the  department  of  practical  theology  in  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  of  the  Eeformed  Chuch  in  the  United  States. 

This  reference  to  the  democratic  spirit  of  our  constitution  is  not 
made  by  mere  chance.  Members,  deacons,  elders,  preachers,  mis- 
sionaries, and  teachers  are  all  members  of  a  common  brotherhood. 
The  source  of  authority  finally  is  the  congregation.  Among  us 
the  congregation  is  the  origin,  conserver,  and  the  bearer  of  the 
Christian  experience  and  life. 

It  is,  therefore,  quite  in  keeping  on  this  inaugural  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  Christian  community  as  the  norm  of  practical  theol- 
ogy- ,         .  .       .  .  r_  :, 

In  presenting  this  theme  the  following  divisions  will  be  observed : 
First,  the  historical  development  of  the  conception;  second,  its 
effect  on  the  definition,  purpose,  scope,  and  divisions,  of  practical 
theology;  third,  several  of  its  primary  implications  and  results. 

I.   The  Historical  Development  op  the  Conception. 

Whilst  it  is  true  that  the  beginnings  of  the  Christian  work  usu- 
ally treated  in  practical  theology  are  found  in  the  New  Testament, 
particularly  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Epistles,  and  were 
continued  in  growing  emphasis  during  the  Post-Apostolic  period 
of  the  Church  as  witnessed  in  such  ancient  writings  like  the 
Didache,  it  is  nevertheless  only  in  the  writings  of  Chrysostom  that 
we  find  an  attempt  to  state  any  of  the  principles  either  of  the 
pastoral  care  of  individuals  or  of  the  art  of  preaching.  About 
381  A.  D.  Chrysostom  wrote  a  book,  entitled.  Concerning  the 
Priesthood,  in  which  he  states  certain  things  concerning  the  art  of 
preaching.  The  next  work  of  importance  is  Augustine's  treatise, 
called.  Concerning  Christian  Doctrine,  in  which  a  great  advance 
over  Chrysostom's  statement  is  made.  It  maintained  a  position 
of  constant  influence  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  and  was  only 
surpassed  by  a  work  written  by  Gregory  the  Great,  which,  in 
summary  form,  gathered  the  pastoral  and  homilectic  instructions 
for  the  priest  and  became  the  standard  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Many  writers  may  be  enumerated  in  the  period  of  the  history  of 
the  Church  prior  to  the  Eeformation,  who  made  attempts  at  stat- 
ing the  principles  and  work  of  what  later  was  called  practical 
theolog}^,  but  it  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose. 

In  all  Catholic  treatments  of  the  subject  of  practical  theolog}^, 
the  entire  work  is  considered  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  priestly 
office. 

The  reason  for  this  is  self-evident  when  we  consider  the  Catholic 


16 

theory  of  the  Church.  As  dogma  is  beyond  reason,  so  monastic  life 
is  beyond  ordinary  life;  so,  also,  is  the  Church  as  the  holy  in- 
corporation of  all  the  power  and  grace  of  God  above  all  human 
organizations,  including  the  State.  The  Church  is  the  institution 
which  God  established  in  the  earth  for  the  salvation  of  men.  It 
is,  therefore,  the  transicendant  miracle,  the  .incorporation  of 
heavenly  powers  and  gifts,  exalted  and  holy,  as  no  other  institu- 
tion in  the  world.  It  has  the  whole  of  divine  truth  in  its  posses- 
sion, which  it,  in  the  course  of  its  existence,  dispenses  through 
sacraments.  It  alone  is  the  possessor  of  this  truth,  and,  therefore, 
infallible.  This  possession  is  based  on  the  divine  supernatural 
revelation.  Therefore,  the  Church  decides  what  is  true  and  false 
in  the  world.  It,  therefore,  also  has  the  salvation  and  happiness 
of  its  members  in  its  own  power.  It  is  their  very  life,  because  it 
exercises  the  benevolent  miraculous  power  of  God  in  this,  and  in 
the  world  to  come.  It  not  only  promises  heavenly  blessedness,  but 
also  earthly  good.  It  is  above  human  control.  It  is  the  only 
grace  dispensing  institution  in  existence.  The  center  of  its  do- 
ings and  the  instrument  of  its  blessing  is  the  cultus.  Therefore, 
above  all  things  it  is  an  institutionalized  cultus  sending  out  its 
power  through  sacraments  to  its  members.  Its  living  heart  is 
the  offering  of  the  eucharist;  herein  is  concealed  the  highest  and 
richest  of  its  gifts.  Through  this  sacrament  of  the  eucharist  it 
transmits  the  divine  substance  of  God  as  the  germ  of  eternal  life 
to  the  believer.  Through  the  sacrament  of  the  confessional  it 
controls  the  ethical  issues  of  the  inner  life  of  its  adherents. 
Through  the  sacrament  of  marriage  it  enters  the  home  with  au- 
thority. Through  the  sacrament  of  baptism  it  claims  all  the  chil- 
dren. Through  the  sacrament  of  extreme  unction  it  opens  the 
gateway  of  death.  Through  the  sacrament  of  penance  it  delivers 
the  soul  in  purgatory  and  controls  the  future  life. 

Consequently,  the  norm  of  all  practical  theology  in  Catholicism 
is  the  priestly  office.  From  it  radiates  all  practical  activities.  Its 
natural  divisions  are  the  cultus,  the  confessional,  and  the  homily 
or  preaching. 

The  second  period  of  decisive  change  in  practical  theology  is 
the  Eeformation,  in  which  the  ecclesiastical  congregation  becomes 
its  norm  instead  of  the  priestly  office. 

The  primary  religious  significance  of  the  Eeformation  lies  in 
its  return  to  the  direct  experience  of  God  by  the  individual  be- 
liever over  against  the  indirect  institutional  experience  of  God 
through  sacraments  as  maintained  by  the  Catholic  Church.  Its 
central  principle  of  the  justification  of  the  individual  believer  by 
faith,  and  faith  only,  require  for  its  corollary  the  universal  priest- 
hood of  all  believers.  This  logically  shifted  the  emphasis  from 
the  institutional  to  the  personal  experience  of  religion;  from  the 
clerical  to  the  human  interpretation  of  life;  from  the  sacerdotal 


17 

to  the  spiritual  viewpoint.  This  great  change  is  best  summarized 
by  Luther  in  his  little  book,  entitled,  "  The  Freedom  of  the  Chris- 
tian Man/'  which  marks  the  height  of  the  Eeformation  in  its  first 
outbreak  of  enthusiasm  and  power. 

The  social  counterpart  of  this  individual  experience  of  God,  and 
of  this  spiritual  viewpoint  of  the  religious  life,  is  the  universal 
priesthood  of  believers  and  the  consequent  democratic  exaltation 
of  the  congregation  or  community  of  believers  to  primary  considera- 
tion in  the  organic  conception  of  the  Church.  After  the  first  out- 
burst of  the  Reformation  was  over,  and  the  sober  second  thought 
of  the  responsible  leaders  of  the  movement  reasserted  itself,  it 
became  manifest  that  only  the  Mystics  and  the  Anabaptists  dared 
fearlessly  attempt  to  apply  this  high  spiritual  experience  and  prin- 
ciple to  practical  life,  and  fully  recognize  the  congregation  or  the 
community  as  the  guiding  norm  of  the  activities  of  the  home, 
Church,  State,  etc.  It  was  their  conflict  with  the  State  that  brought 
them  to  grief.  Luther  and  the  Lutheran  movement  made  their 
compromise,  on  the  one  hand,  with  the  mediaeval  Catholic  concep- 
tion of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  as  sacraments,  and,  on  the 
other,  with  the  civil  authorities  by  surrendering  the  control  of 
secular  life  to  the  state  in  return  for  the  financial  support  and  the 
military  protection  of  the  church  in  the  exercise  of  its  distinctive 
functions  of  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  dispensing  the  sacra- 
ments. Consequently,  the  congregation  itself,  as  a  factor  in  the 
Christian  life,  receded  into  the  background  and  the  semi-priestly 
and  pastoral  office  remained  the  norm  or  directive  conception  of 
the  practical  activities  of  the  German  Lutheran  Church.  For  them 
practical  theology  was  pastoral  theology,  in  definition,  and  scope, 
and  division.  From  the  pastoral  office  radiated  all  the  functions 
of  the  religious  life  of  the  congregation. 

In  the  Reformed  Church,  under  Calvinistic  influence,  it  was 
distinctively  different.  The  doctrine  of  the  elect  was  the  de- 
termining center.  The  religious  experience  of  the  individual  was 
presupposed  but  it  was  not  the  creative  principle  of  Galvanism. 
It  was  the  elect  and  the  congregation  of  the  elect  that  became 
the  determining  factors.  This  principle  connected  itself  with  the 
Old  Testament  and  exalted* the  sovereignty  of  God  and  the  right 
of  the  elect  of  God  to  rule  in  the  earth.  Therefore,  the  emphasis 
of  the  congregation  of  the  elect  and  its  alliance  with  the  state  is 
made  in  order  to  control  the  moral  and  religious  life  of  the  people. 
The  best  illustration  of  this  was  the  rule  of  Calvin  and  his  con- 
sistory over  the  city  of  Geneva.  ISTot  only  was  the  congregation 
and  its  pastor  exalted,  but  its  chosen  officers  and  others  as  lay- 
men were  freely  used  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  Thus  did 
Calvinism  open  the  way  toward  the  centrality  of  the  congregation, 
both  in   Church  government  and  moral  discipline  of  the  com- 


18 

nmnity.  The  Puritan  comnrnnities  in  England,  the  Netherlands, 
and  America,  are  typical  illustrations  of  the  elaboration  of  the 
congregational  principle  as  the  basis  of  a  representative  type  of 
democracy. 

Our  own  branch  of  the  Reformed  Church,  extending  up  the 
Ehine  to  the  Netherlands,  combined  the  religious  principle  of 
Lutheranism  with  the  congregational  principle  of  Calvinism,  which 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  we  find  it  so  easy  to  move  both  with 
the  progressive  evangelical  ,and  the  social  democratic  movements 
of  our  time. 

It  is,  however,  to  be  noted  that  both  the  Lutheran  and  Ee- 
formed  branches  of  the  Eeformation  remained  under  the  general 
Catholic  conception  of  revelation.  They  alike  accepted  the  dogmas 
of  the  great  oecumenical  councils,  the  same  theory  of  the  inspira- 
tion and  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  and  neither  of  them  in  actual 
practice  fully  maintained  the  great  spiritual  principal  of  free- 
dom in  the  experience  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  and  by 
faith  alone.  Even  though  the  Mystics  and  the  Anabaptists  main- 
tained the  principle  by  the  intuitions  of  experience,  they  could 
not  justify  themselves  in  reason  and  fact  on  the  basis  either  of  the 
scriptures  or  of  tradition,  because  they,  too,  held  the  same  general 
view  of  revelation,  the  Bible,  and  dogma. 

Consequently,  the  logical  democratic  deductions  from  the  prin- 
ciples of  justification  by  faith  only,  and  the  universal  priesthood 
of  believers  were  not  made.  The  pastoral  office,  on  the  basis  of 
congregational  activities,  became  the  guiding  principle  of  prac- 
tical theology  in  the  Eeformation  and  Post-Eeformation  period. 
All  the  practical  activities  were  derived  from  this  pastoral  con- 
ception. Hence,  the  use  of  the  title,  pastoral  theology  as  summing 
up  the  whole  of  the  practical  department. 

This  leads  us  to  the  third  or  modern  stage,  in  which  we  see  the 
Christian  community  finally  recognized  as  the  guiding  norm  of 
practical  theology. 

What  the  Eeformation  accomplished  in  behalf  of  the  freedom 
and  permanence  of  religion  as  an  individual,  immediate  personal 
experience  of  God  in  Christ,  over  against  the  Church,  as  a  closed 
infallible  corporation  or  institution,  that  our  modern  period, 
through  historical  criticism,  through  an  enlarged  scientific  vision 
of  the  world,  through  the  moral  failure  of  the  ruling  culture 
of  the  period,  and  through  the  present  demands  of  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  people,  had  to  accomplish  for  us,  over  against  an  in- 
fallible Book,  and  an  infallible  dogma,  and  an  inexorable  scien- 
tific law.  It  is  declared  openly  by  those  most  deeply  interested  in 
religion,  and  most  gripped  by  the  experience  of  God  in  Christ, 
that  a  man  is  not  only  justified  before  God,  and  partakes  of  the 
spirit  and  life  of  God  by  faith,  and  faith  only,  over  against  an  in- 
fallible institution,  but  also  over  against  an  infallible  Book,  and 


19 

an  infallible  dogma,  and  an  infallible  statement  of  physical  and 
moral  laws.  In  fact,  the  effective  and  practical  evaluation  of  the 
Church  as  an  authoritative  institution,  of  the  Bible,  as  a  positive 
revelation  of  the  living  God  in  Christ,  and  of  dogma,  as  the  his- 
torical expression  of  experimental  doctrine  or  truth,  is  now  pos- 
sible as  never  before  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  Consequently, 
the  vital  reality  of  the  experience  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  of  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  Bible,  and  Dogma,  and  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  as  the  social  hope  of  mankind,  was  never  more  free,  cer- 
tain, and  imperative  than  in  our  own  days  of  constructive  faith. 

It  is  significant  too,  that  the  real  contribution  of  the  Mystic 
and  the  Anabaptist  in  the  time  of  the  sixteenth  century  Reforma- 
tion is  now  apparent.  The  democratic  trend  of  the  Reformed 
branch  of  the  Reformation  is  now  coming  to  fruition.  In  America 
we  are  rapidly  approaching  the  time  when  the  center  of  the  prac- 
tical activities  of  the  Church  is  becoming  the  democratic  Chris- 
tian community.  We  are  truly  shifting  the  emphasis  from  the 
institutional  to  the  personal,  from  the  clerical  to  the  human, 
from  the  sacerdotal  to  the  spirtual,  from  the  autocratic  to  the 
democratic,  from  the  absoluteness  of  infallibility  to  the  vital  cer- 
tainty of  living  experience. 

The  divisiveness  of  sectarianism,  the  social  helplessness  of  the 
churches  in  their  individualism,  the  grave  moral  dangers  of  modern 
life,  involving  the  overthrow  of  governments  and  nations,  the 
breakdown  of  individual  character,  and  many  other  causes,  have 
made  us  ask  anew,  Who  is  God?  Who  and  what  is  Man?  What 
is  religion  ?  What  is  Christianity  ?  What  is  the  goal  of  society  ? 
\Vhatever  else  may  characterize  our  quest,  this  one  thing  does  mark 
it, — we  are  seeking  not  only  the  direct  approach  to  God,  which  was 
the  claim  of  the  16th  Century  Reformation,  but  the  sure  grasp  of 
a  living,  present  experience  of  God  upon  personality  and  char- 
acter, on  the  one  hand,  and  upon  society  and  the  social  hope  of 
humanity,  on  the  other,  both  as  a  present  and  a  future  reality. 

The  constructive  work  is  far  on  the  way.  The  prophets  of  a 
new  era  of  constructive  Christianity  are  rising  in  every  land.  We 
are  putting  into  vital  relation  the  two  poles  of  life, — personality 
and  society,  individual  salvation  and  social  redemption.  In  fact, 
we  are  being  born  again  to  see  and  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  the  earth,  as  well  as  in  heaven.  The  Kingdom  of  God  has 
avowedly  become  the  foundation  of  Christian  thinking  and  ac- 
tion, with  Jesus  Christ  its  chief  corner  stone. 

It  is,  therefore,  quite  true  to  the  historical  facts  to  s,ay,  that, 
since  the  days  of  Frederick  Schleiermacher,  practical  theology  has 
been  finding  a  new  path  to  the  restoration  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity to  its  place  of  centrality  in  the  considerartion  of  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  Christian  Church.  In  this  respect  it  is  a  return 
to  the  original  experience  of  Apostolic  Christianity. 


20 


II.  Its  Effect  on  the  Definition,  Puepose,  Scope,  and 
Divisions  of  Practical  Theology. 

In  general,  in  the  mediaeval  Catholic  Church,  the  entire  science 
of  theology  in  its  several  departments  issued  in  practical  theol- 
ogy; in  particular  as  a  special  treatment  it  was  developed  as  the 
theory  and  practice  of  the  priestly  office.  Its  natural  divisions 
were :  the  cultus,  the  homily,  and  the  confessional.  In  the  Protest- 
ant Church,  up  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  prac- 
tical theology  was  distinctively  developed  as  pastoral  theology. 
The  emphasis  was  shifted  from  the  priestly  office  to  the  congrega- 
tion, but  still  centered  primarily  in  the  minister  as  the  preacher 
of  the  Word  and  the  dispenser  of  the  sacraments.  Consequently, 
the  normal  divisions  were :  ( 1 )  The  Theory  of  the  Christian  Min- 
istry, or  the  Minister  as  the  Ambassador  of  Christ  as  Prophet, 
Priest  .and  King;  (2)  Ecclesiology  (Church  Law  or  Polity),  the 
Minister  as  Ruler;  (3)  Liturgic;  The  Minister  in  Worship  (as 
Priest);  (4)  Homiletic:  The  Minister  as  Preacher;  (5)  Cate- 
chetic:  The  Minister  as  Teacher;  (6)  Poimenic:  The  Minister  as 
Pastor;  (7)  Evangelistic:  the  Minister  as  Evangelist  and  Mis- 
sionary. 

During  the  nineteenth  century,  beginning  with  Schleiermacher, 
the  change  of  emphasis  became  apparent,  which  puts  the  congre- 
gation into  a  central  position  in  practical  theology  as  determining 
both  the  definition  of  the  science  and  the  principle  of  its  divisions. 
The  following  are  typical  modern  definitions.  Practical  theology 
is  the  theory  of  the  ecclesiastical  practice  of  Christianity  (C.  J. 
Nitsch).  Practical  theology  is  the  science  of  the  self -activity  of 
the  Church  in  its  own  edification  (E.  Chr.  Achelis).  Practical 
theology  is  the  science  of  the  activities  of  the  life  of  the  Church 
with  reference  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  (Christlieb).  Practical 
theology  is  the  science  of  the  activities  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity in  its  processes  of  realizing  the  Christian  ideal  of  indi- 
vidual and  social  life.  Its  object  is  the  work  of  the  minister  him- 
self in  and  for  his  congregation,  as  well  as  the  work  of  his  mem- 
bers and  helpers  whom  he  is  to  quicken,  lead,  and  train.  The 
goal  or  aim  of  this  work  is  the  development  of  the  congregation 
into  a  living  community  whose  influence  shall  reach  out,  in  all 
directions,  into  the  entire  social  order  just  as  far  as  its  own 
genuine  leadership  and  vitality  permit  (Frederick  Mebergall). 

In  a  descriptive  way  the  catalogue  of  the  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary  says,  practical  theology  concerns  itself  with  the  environ- 
ment, planting,  and  nurture  of  Christianity. 

These  definitions  make  the  Christian  community  the  determin- 
ing center  of  practical  theology.  They  vary,  however,  in  the  de- 
gree in  which  they  are  true  to  the  principle  in  making  their 
divisions.  They  are  all  European  writers  and  have  the  background 
of  the  continental  Protestant    "^-hristianity.     Strange  as  it  may 


21 

seem,  there  is  not  a  single  complete  system  of  practical  theology 
published  by  English  or  American  theologians.  It  is,  neverthe- 
less, apparent  that  we  have  been  far  in  advance  of  the  continental 
churches  in  recognizing  the  democratic  centrality  of  the  congre- 
gation in  the  practical  activities  of  the  Church,  despite  the  fact 
of  our  continental  inheritance  of  doctrinal  creed  and  church 
organization. 

It  is  quite  in  keeping  with  this  occasion  to  suggest  the  outlines 
of  a  system  of  practical  theology  which  reflects  the  spirit  and 
genius  of  our  American  type  of  democratic  Christianity.  In  do- 
ing so  we  recognize  that  the  factors  of  church  activity  are  both 
idea  and  fact,  i.e.,  theory  and  practice.  The  actual  facts  of  the 
life  of  the  Church  more  or  less  agree  or  disagree  with  the  original 
idea.  The  conditions  of  a  historical  manifestation,  as  well  as  the 
inner  conception  of  the  idea  operating  it,  are  not  only  universal 
and  permanent,  but  also  relative  and  changing;  for  example,  the 
national  conditions.  The  future  of  the  Church  rests  upon  the 
basis  of  the  present,  a  present,  however,  that  is  only  comprehensible 
through  the  past.  Consequently,  in  the  theory  of  practical  theol- 
ogy, not  only  the  given  standpoint  of  the  inherited  ecclestiastical 
system  must  be  involved,  but  also  all  the  present  vital  activities 
of  the  Church  and  the  determining  conditions  of  its  environment. 
On  such  a  basis  it  becomes  possible  to  make  the  adjustments  re- 
quired in  meeting  the  present  and  future  requirements  of  the  new 
era  already  settling  upon  us. 

We,  therefore,  are  considering  practical  theolog}^,  first,  as  to  its 
theory,  and  second,  as  to  its  activities,  and  both  on  the  basis  of 
the  Christian  community  as  its  determining  norm. 

Part  I.  Its  Theory. 

I.  The  Christian  Community  and  the  Goal  of  Society  stand  out 
as  the  first  consideration.  The  attempt  to  state  the  Christian  ideal 
is  essential.  It  involves  the  problems  of  personality  and  the  com- 
munity and  their  ideal  interrelation  and  harmonious  interaction 
in  the  dominant  conception  of  Jesus,  namely,  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  At  the  heart  of  this  Christian  ideal  is  the  individual  and 
social  experience  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  its  moral  and  spiritual 
creative  power. 

II.  The  Actual  Community,  i.e.,  the  community  as  it  is  in  its 
present  activities  and  standards  of  Christian  living  at  once  de- 
mands consideration.  The  ideal  is  essential,  but  unrelated  to  the 
actual  processes  of  history  and  fact  becomes  purely  mystical  or 
rationalistic  and  a  hindrance  to  real  progress. 

The  actual  community  may  be  considered  from  three  points  of 
view, — the  religious,  the  moral,  the  ecclesiastical.  This  means  a 
community  study — a  kind  of  science  of  the  people  as  such. 


22 

The  religious  point  of  view  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  present 
religious  life  of  any  community  involves  all  the  primitive  re- 
ligious instincts  of  the  race.  The  background  of  the  history  and 
evolution  of  religion  is  implied.  The  same  is  true  of  the  facts 
involved  in  the  study  of  comparative  religions.  The  present  crisis 
of  the  World  War  has  revealed  how  the  primitive  religious  in- 
stincts fundamentally  control  us.  Even  in  normal  times  we  have 
to  do  with  the  survival  of  fortune-telling,  powwowing,  and  numer- 
ous other  primitive  experiences. 

The  psychology  of  religion  also  deals  so  effectively  with  the 
actual  personal,  individual,  and  social  experience  of  religion,  that 
it  necessarily  becomes  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  learning 
to  know  and  to  understand  the  people  of  a  parish  community. 

In  a  day  when  the  materialistic,  economic  interpretation  of  his- 
tory is  playing  such  havoc  among  the  masses,  the  problem  of  the 
relation  of  the  social  economic  struggles  to  their  moral  and  spirit- 
ual life  demands  primary  consideration. 

In  other  words,  the  consideration  of  the  Christian  community 
as  it  is  requires  us  to  take  into  account  the  results  of  the  critical- 
historical  methods  of  study  especially  involving  the  history  and 
evolution  of  religion,  the  individual  and  social  psychology  of 
religion,  and  the  social  economic  development  of  the  race.  The 
influence  of  the  modern  sciences,  not  only  upon  theology,  but 
upon  the  actual  living  of  the  community,  stands  out  as  one  of  the 
prominent  features  of  our  modern  life. 

From  the  moral  or  ethical  point  of  view  of  the  community  we 
have  somewhat  more  direct  applications  of  all  that  has  been  said 
with  reference  to  the  various  sciences  in  relation  to  the  religious 
life  of  the  people.  What  affects  and  interprets  their  religious  out- 
look, necessarily  affects  their  moral  life.  The  question  of  moral 
conduct,  both  as  the  individual  and  social  experience,  strikes  at 
the  very  root  of  Christian  ethics  as  rooted  in  a  living  experience  of 
God.  The  details  of  daily  life  involving  our  constant  conduct 
cannot  be  explained  outside  of  our  fundamental  inner  reli^ou8 
experience.  The  question  of  the  spiritual  man  in  his  own  per- 
sonal life,  and  in  relation  to  his  fellowmen,  cannot  be  separated 
from  the  question  of  the  natural  man  in  the  same  relationships. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  type  of  popular  Christian  ethics  that  must  be 
studied  and  understood  by  the  preacher.  Its  relation  primarily 
to  the  religious  life  determines  its  essential  developments.  It  is 
at  the  point  where  character  and  conduct  touch  the  daily  practical 
problems  of  life  that  the  Church  becomes  vitally  interested.  At 
no  time  is  its  mission  separated  from  this  plain  daily  ethical  life 
of  the  people  as  it  works  itself  out  in  business,  in  industry,  politics, 
trade  and  calling. 

The  ecclesiastical  viewpoint  of  the  community  raises  the  whole 
question  of  the  actual  working  relation  of  the   Church   as   an 


23 

institution  to  all  these  vital  problems  of  the  people.  It  is  just  as 
important  to  know  what  is  the  present  attitude  of  the  masses  to 
the  Church,  and  their  viewpoint  concerning  it,  as  it  is  for  the 
minister  and  the  leaders  of  the  Church  to  know  the  past  history 
of  the  Church  as  an  institution,  and  of  Christianity  as  a  doctrine 
and  a  life.  It  is  still  more  important  to  know  what  contribution 
the  Church  is  actually  making  toward  the  solution  of  these  ethical 
and  spiritual  problems  of  the  people  which  must  essentially  grow 
out  of  their  daily  struggle  for  existence.  The  great  demand  is  for 
the  presentation  and  realization  of  the  ecclestiastical  system  as 
the  organized  individual  and  social  experience  of  the  living  God 
in  Christ,  and,  therefore,  the  moral  and  spiritual  creative  power 
that  is  to  quicken  the  social  hope  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  the  people.  All  tliis  involves  a  study  of  the 
exciting  facts  concerning  the  working  efficiency  of  the  Church  in 
its  local  environment. 

Such  a  study  of  the  actual  community  as  it  exists  puts  into 
Practical  Theology  a  concrete,  active  and  progressive  realism 
which  illuminates  and  quickens  its  best  ideals. 

III.  The  Christian  Congi-egation  Conserving  the  Ideal,  there- 
fore, is  the  next  step  in  the  theory  of  practical  theology,  after 
discussing  the  ideal  and  the  actual  Christian  communities. 

It  accordingly  becomes  necessary  to  consider  the  historical  forms 
of  the  Church  from  the  point  of  view  of  practical  theology. 
Catholocism,  both  Greek  and  Eoman,  Protestantism,  both  Luth- 
eran and  Eeformed,  Anabaptism,  Pietism,  Methodism,  ]\Iodern- 
ism,  both  Protestant  and  Catholic — all  these  must  pass  in  review 
and  particular  attention  given  to  actual  life  of  the  Church  and 
its  mode  of  operating  in  the  life  of  the  people. 

Only  then  may  the  problem  of  the  modern  Church  be  stated, 
and  the  description  of  the  living  Church  as  a  present  reality  at- 
tempted. The  community,  the  churches,  and  the  Kingdom  of 
God  will  begin  to  stand  out  as  definite  conceptions  and  facts  of 
the  historical  process.  The  whole  question  must  be  raised  as  to 
the  efficiency  of  denominationalism  and  nationalism  in  maintain- 
ing and  propagating  the  Christian  religion  as  the  redemptive  hope 
of  mankind. 

IV.  The  Experience  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Moral  and 
Spiritual  Creative  Activity  and  Power  of  the  Community,  con- 
sequently, becomes  the  central  problem.  The  actuality  of  this 
living  experience  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  hope  of  a 
modern  department  of  practical  theology.  Otherwise  we  would 
soon  lose  ourselves  in  an  empty,  rationalistic  Unitarianism,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  a  fruitless  individual  and  social  ethical  legal- 
ism on  the  other,  in  the  storm  and  stress  of  the  oncoming  social 
democracy  that  is  filling  the  modern  world. 

The  elements  of  this  religious  experience  of  God  in  Christ  are 


24 

the  fatherhood  of  God,  the  sonship  of  the  individual  believer, 
and  the  brotherhood  of  man.  It  must  be  set  forth  in  its  individual 
and  social  aspects.  Its  doctrinal  content  must  also  be  differ- 
entiated. Its  personal  agencies,  the  minister  and  all  other  per- 
sonal agencies,  clerical  and  lay,  involved  in  the  organization, 
administration,  and  prosecution  of  the  work  of  the  Church,  must 
not  only  be  theoretically  considered,  but  opportunities  for  training 
all  these  agencies  should  be  afforded.  The  expansion  of  this  ex- 
perience of  God  in  Christ  as  the  individual  and  social  power,  must 
reach  out  into  the  community,  the  nation,  and  the  world.  The 
following  quotation  from  the  Hartford  Seminary  catalogue  states 
the  problem  very  clearly :  "  The  power  of  God  unto  salvation  is 
not  a  mechanical  force.  It  is  a  vital  energy,  moral  and  spiritual, 
and  the  methods  of  its  utilization  must  be  those  which  belong  to 
the  realities  of  life.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  vital  prin- 
ciple to  be  implanted  by  the  minister  within  a  social  environment, 
for  the  regeneration  of  the  world.  To  accomplish  this  is  the  task 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  minister  is  the  leader  of  the 
Church.  If  he  is  in  any  measure  to  meet  his  responsibilities  he 
must  have :  ( 1 )  Knowledge  of  what  the  Christian  religion  is,  as  a 
vitalizing  faith;  (2)  knowledge  of  what  the  environment  is  in 
which  Christianity  is  to  be  planted;  (3)  knowledge  of  how  to 
plant  and  nurture  Christianity  within  the  environment.  To 
supply  this  knowledge,  and  to  make  it  dynamic  in  the  personal- 
ities of  those  who  are  taught,  is  the  real  task  of  a  school  of  Chris- 
tian theology." 

Part  II. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  we  approach  the  Activities  of  the 
Christian  Community,  first.  As  to  Content,  second,  As  to  Or- 
ganization. 

I.  As  to  content,  it  is  most  interesting  to  notice  how  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  Church  naturally  grow  out  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity as  the  norm  of  practical  theology. 

1.  The  Public  Services,  or  the  Congregation  Assembled,  marks 
the  beginning  of  the  classification. 

First,  there  is  Worship,  which  involves  the  history  and  growth 
of  the  cultus,  ,as  well  as  its  present  use  and  new  developments. 

Second,  is  Preaching  or  Homiletics,  including  the  history  of 
preaching,  the  principles  of  homiletics,  its  practice  and  its  ma- 
terials. It  is  especially  in  the  consideration  of  the  materials  of 
homiletics  that  one  of  the  interesting  phases  of  the  new  develop- 
ments of  practical  theology  consists.  There  exists  at  present  a 
very  wide,  breach  between  the  matured  results  of  the  historical 
and  critical  study  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  in  commentaries  and 
the  real  evangelical  interests  of  the  Church.  This  is  best  illus- 
trated by  the  series  covering  the  whole  Bible,  called,  "  The  Inter- 


25 

national  Critical  Commentary."  The  contrast  between  this  scien- 
tific modern  commentary  and  the  "  Pulpit "  or  "  Speakers  "  com- 
mentaries of  the  past,  from  the  homiletic  viewpoint,  is  very  great. 
No  preacher  thinks  of  going  to  the  International  Critical  Com- 
mentary for  homiletic  suggestions.  The  mediation  between  the 
accredited  results  of  the  historical-critical  interpretation  of  the 
Bible  and  the  evangelical  needs  of  the  Church,  becomes  one  of 
the  new  scientific  duties  of  the  department  of  practical  theology. 
Courses  bearing  the  following  titles  become  necessary  :  The  Homi- 
letic Use  of  the  Bible,  The  Homiletic  Use  of  Christian  Doctrine, 
The  Homiletic  Use  of  History  and  Sociology,  The  Homiletic  Use 
of  Literature,  especially  poetry. 

The  various  types  of  public  services  also  come  under  considera- 
tion, and  hymnology  likewise  must  be  considered. 

2.  Eeligious  Education,  or  the  Congregation  Educated  and  Edu- 
cating, is  the  second  branch  of  special  activity  in  which  the  Chris- 
tian community  is  interested.  It  recognizes,  above  all,  the 
Christian  content  to  be  taught,  but  it  also  fully  appreciates  the 
value  of  religious  psychology  and  pedagogy.  Its  particular  or- 
ganization in  the  local  congregation  is  differentiated  as  it  effects 
the  pulpit,  catechetics,  the  school  of  religion,  and  public  religious 
education.  At  no  point  is  the  modern  demand  for  thoroughness 
and  aggressive  advance  more  manifest.  It  includes  not  only  the 
training  of  preachers,  but  also  of  laymen  as  religious  educational 
directors  and  teachers  of  the  congregation. 

3.  Pastoral  Theology,  or  the  Congregation  Shepherded,  rises  to 
special  importance  in  the  new  consideration  of  practical  theology. 
It  presents  the  cure  of  souls  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  vital 
Christian  experience.  It  touches  not  only  preparation  of  the 
pastor  himself,  but  also  the  training  of  lay  workers,  in  order  that 
they  may  assist  in  the  specialized  work  of  the  spiritual  care  of 
the  people.  It  needs  to  be  organized  both  from  the  pastoral  and 
lay  points  of  view. 

4.  Evangelization,  or  the  Congregation  Growing,  is  imme- 
diately recognized  as  a  fundamental  activity.  The  discussion  of 
the  history  and  principles  of  evangelism  has  attained  a  special 
significnce  in  these  later  days  when  we  are  considering  the  King- 
dom of  God  as  an  actual  present  reality  in  the  world.  On  the  basis 
of  the  individual  and  social  experience  of  God  in  Christ  as  the 
leaven  of  society,  it  becomes  both  the  theoretic  and  practical  de- 
mand of  the  Church.  It  works  itself  out  in  the  following  forms: 
Personal,  Parish,  Community,  National,  and  International 
Evangelism.  In  the  local  congregation  it  is  the  problem  of  per- 
sonal evangelism  developed  into  community  evangelism.  In  the 
denomination  it  becomes  home  and  foreign  missions.  The  specific 
training  of  the  preacher,  elders,  deacons,  Sunday  School  superin- 
tendents and  teachers,  and  other  local  church  workers  in  this 


26 

evangelistic  work  of  the  Church  will  be  more  and  more  required 
if  the  Church  is  to  meet  its  new  duties  in  the  new  era  of  the 
social  democracy  which  is  being  rapidly  established  throughout 
the  world. 

5.  Christianization  conceives  of  the  congregation  as  a  social 
power.  Evangelization  more  particularly  involves  the  heralding 
of  the  good  news  of  the  Kingdom,  both  as  an  individual  experi- 
ence and  a  soocial  hope;  Christianization  has  more  particularly 
reference  to  the  self-realization  of  the  community  in  its  Christian 
life,  involving  all  its  various  forms  of  expression,  political,  social, 
economic,  and  religious.  The  contribution  of  social  psychology 
and  social  ethics,  as  well  as  those  of  the  study  of  comparative 
religions,  are  prominent  factors  in  arriving  at  the  proper  con- 
sideration of  the  Christian  religion  as  the  Christianizing  force 
intended  ultimately  to  bring  to  pass  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
earth. 

II.  As  to  Organization:  Finally,  the  consideration  of  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  Church,  with  the  Christian  Community  as  the  prin- 
ciple of  definition  and  division,  lead  us  to  the  question  of  organi- 
zation. The  readjustments  necessary  in  the  system  of  organiza- 
tion become  apparent  as  soon  as  we  face  the  fact  of  the  scope  and 
character  of  the  modem  social  democratic  movement.  It  is  not 
only  necessary  to  consider  organization  from  an  ecclesiastical,  but 
also  a  non-ecclestiastical  viewpoint.  From  the  ecclesiastical  view- 
point it  is  clear  that  the  first  problem  to  be  thoroughly  discussed, 
is  the  organization  of  the  local  church  or  congregation,  second,  the 
organization  of  the  denomination  with  special  reference  to  its 
effect  upon  the  local  congregation,  third,  interdenominational  or- 
ganization considered  likewise  with  special  attention  to  its  effect 
upon  the  local  congregation. 

Non-ecclesiastical  organizations  are,  first,  local  and  communal, 
second,  national  and  patriotic,  and  third,  international  and  hu- 
man. It  is  important  that  the  modern  minister  and  workers  in  the 
local  Christian  community  should  understand  the  various  or- 
ganizations that  in  our  day  expresses  the  faith  of  the  people,  both 
in  interdenominationalism  and  internationalism.  It  is  becoming 
quite  apparent  to  most  Americans  that  there  can  be  no  real 
effective  League  of  Nations  or  International  Court  of  Arbitration 
until  the  religious  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  been 
more  fully  preached  and  taught  throughout  the  world  among  aU 
nations. 

We  have  thus,  in  the  briefest  form  possible,  suggested  the  out- 
lines of  a  system  of  practical  theology,  based  upon  the  Christian 
community  as  its  organizing  principle. 


27 

III.   Some  of  Its  Primary  Implications  and  Kesults. 

It  remains  to  consider  some  of  the  implications  of  such  a  recog- 
nition of  the  Christian  community  as  the  organizing  principle  of 
practical  theology. 

First,  of  all,  it  implies  that  the  individual  and  social  experience 
of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  central  light  and  life  of  the  Apostolic 
literature  and  Church. 

Second,  it  implies  the  continuity  of  this  experience  throughout 
history  and  its  present  day  reality. 

Third,  it  implies  the  free  and  full  application  of  this  experi- 
ence to  the  whole  individual  and  social  life  of  man. 

Fourth,  it  implies  that  the  individual  soul  is  of  infinite  worth, 
and  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  the  goal  of  humanity. 

Fifth,  it  implies  that  the  Church,  or  the  Christian  Community 
is  the  instrument  of  God  to  bring  to  pass  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  the  earth. 

Sixth,  it  implies  that  the  natural  history  of  man  as  an  indi- 
vidual, and  of  society  as  a  whole,  and  the  present  status  of  our 
knowledge  of  man  and  society  are  needful  to  a  proper  appre- 
ciation of  the  present  problems  of  Christianity  as  an  evangelizing 
and  christianizing  influence  in  the  world.  It,  therefore,  recognizes 
the  value  of  the  historical-critical  methods  of  research,  and  of  the 
sciences  known  as  the  history  of  religion,  the  psychology  of  re- 
ligion, and  comparative  religions,  as  well  as  political  and  social 
economics  in  their  relation  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
man.  It  is  at  the  point  where  the  sciences  of  political  and  social 
economics  are  related  to  biology  and  psychology  that  the  vital 
problems  for  the  preacher  arise.  The  doctrine  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  of  necessity  involves  the  question  of  a  Christian  social 
order. 

Besides  these  implications  there  are  various  definite  results. 

The  adoption  of  this  principle  of  the  Christian  community  as 
the  norm  of  practical  theology  enables  us  to  meet  the  practical 
demands  of  the  Church  in  the  midst  of  the  new  democratic  social 
order  which  the  World  War  has  actually  made  a  world-decision. 
The  divisions  of  practical  theology,  as  we  noted  above,  grow 
naturally  out  of  the  principle.  The  curricula  of  the  leading  semi- 
naries of  America,  in  the  department  of  practical  theology,  are 
gradually  being  changed.  The  results  are  manifest  in  many 
definite  courses  designed  to  meet  the  new  needs. 

The  new  needs  may  be  summarized  in  one,  namely,  the  need  of 
mediating  between  the  practical  evangelical  requirements  of  the 
Church  and  the  accredited  results  of  the  critical-historical  study 
of  the  Bible,  Christian  doctrine.  Church  history,  and  the  social 
conceptions  of  Christianity  as  historically  included  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  diflEiculty  as  stated  by  G.  B.  Smith, 
is  "that  the  critical-historical  judgment  of  the  student  and  in- 


28 

vestigator  is  very  different  in  its  psychological  constitution  and 
in  its  spiritual  value  from  the  personal  judgment  of  the  believing 
Christian.  The  former  can  only  direct  and  correct.  The  latter 
alone  can  supply  life  and  energy.  The  chief  business  of  the  min- 
ister is  to  aw,aken  and  stimulate  religious  life.  The  historical 
direction  is  already  being  admirably  supplied.  The  great  need 
of  the  present  is  a  practical  theology  which  shall  supply  the 
dynamic  for  vitalizing  Christian  faith." 

Let  us  think,  for  a  moment,  of  the  Christian  community  in  its 
creative  experience  of  God  in  Christ,  as  epitomized  and  in- 
carnated in  the  individual  preacher  and  note  how  the  problem 
of  preaching  is  effected  by  the  fact  of  schism  between  the  verified 
results  of  critical  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  evangelical  need 
of  the  Church.  There  is  a  type  of  religious  impotence  in  the 
objective  historical  method  when  it  simply  states  its  results  as  is 
done,  for  example,  in  the  International  Critical  Commentary. 
The  evangelical  needs  of  the  preacher  are  present  and  imperative. 
If  his  preaching  is  to  be  experimental  .and  vital  there  must  be  an 
effective  mediation  between  the  accepted  results  of  historical 
criticism  and  the  immediate  spiritual  necessities  of  the  people. 
A  course  on  the  homiletic  use  of  the  Bible  is  clearly  demanded. 
It  should  deal  largely  with  principles  and  methods.  Such  a  course 
will  then  be  subdivided  and  books  will  be  separately  treated,  as 
for  example,  The  Homiletic  Value  of  the  Prophecy  of  Amos,  or. 
The  Homiletic  Use  of  Synoptic  Gospels,  etc. 

When  we  turn  to  the  problem  of  dogmatics  we  have  a  similar 
situation.  The  problem  of  dogmatics  is  to  study  the  facts 
of  the  genesis  and  growth  of  Christian  dogma  and  arrive  at  an 
adequate  statement  of  doctrine  as  vitally  held  in  the  present 
Christian  consciousness,  or  what  may  be  called  practical  dog- 
matics. In  the  present  confused,  transitional  period  there  is  evi- 
dent need  of  making  clear  to  theological  students  how  to  trans- 
late the  vital  values  of  their  study  of  Christian  doctrine  into 
homiletic  material,  and  thus  make  the  pulpit  the  most  important 
center  of  religious  education  in  the  community. 

The  same  principle  should  be  applied  to  history  and  sociology, 
especially  church  liistory  and  the  social  teaching  of  the  Bible  and 
the  Church  historically  treated.  Such  a  homiletic  use  of  history 
and  sociology  would  give  us  a  new  sense  of  the  providence  of 
God,  in  which  faith  and  providence  would  once  more  be  united 
in  the  working  out  of  the  great  human  issues  in  individual,  na- 
tional, and  international  life.  The  hope  of  a  new  Christian  social 
order  would  again  become  the  great  inspiration  of  believers 
throughout  the  world.  Evangelism  would  again  be  restored  to  its 
essential,  central  place  in  the  life  and  work  of  the  Church  and  the 
foolishness  of  preaching  once  again  proved  the  great  need  of  man- 
kind. 


29 

When  we  think  of  the  Christian  congregation  as  an  effective 
moral  and  spiritual  social  force  in  the  community,  we  see  the  same 
problems  before  us  even  as  in  the  individual  task  of  the  Christian 
preacher.  There  is  demanded  the  same  mediation  between  the 
evanglical  mission  and  needs  of  the  Church  and  the  accepted 
results  of  the  historical-critical  study  of  the  Bible,  the  Church, 
dogma,  and  social  and  political  history  and  present  life  and  en- 
vironment of  the  people.  It  involves  courses  on  the  Inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  on  Religious  Education,  in  theory  and  practice,  on 
Spiritual  Dynamics — Prayer,  Faith,  and  Providence,  and  on  The 
New  Christian  Social  Order.  These  courses,  however,  should  not 
only  be  given  from  the  peculiar  angle  of  the  needs  of  the  minister, 
as  a  preacher  emphasized  a  moment  ago,  but  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  minister  as  a  trainer  of  leaders  in  the  work  of  the 
local  church.  The  minister  in  these  days  must  indeed  be  a  prophet, 
but  he  must  also,  in  his  own  congregation,  be  the  head  of  a  school 
of  prophets.  If  he  would  succeed  he  must  do  as  his  great  Master, 
choose  and  train  at  least  twelve  men.  Consequently,  the  courses 
just  designated  should  be  given  in  the  department  of  practical 
theology,  so  as  to  make  the  minister  a  maker  and  trainer  of  the 
lay-leadership  of  his  congregation. 

But  even  this  does  not  view  the  whole  of  the  present  trend  of  the 
department  of  practical  theology.  One  of  the  plain  results  of  the 
principle  of  the  Christian  community  as  the  norm  of  practical 
theology  is,  that  either  our  present  seminaries  or  other  schools 
must  directly  train  the  lay-leadership  of  our  churches.  The  need 
of  a  director  of  religious  education  in  the  local  church  is  becom- 
ing more  apparent  each  year.  In  many  churches  the  experiment 
of  using  such  directors  has  been  tried  and  found  both  practical 
and  successful.  The  training  of  the  department  heads  of  the 
graded  Sunday  School  is  becoming  equally  imperative.  The  in- 
dications at  present  also  seem  to  show  that  week-day  religious 
education,  under  the  direction  of  each  denomination,  will  be  gen- 
erally adopted  in  America.  The  consequent  demand  for  teachers 
adequately  trained  for  such  work  will  necessitate  an  adaptation 
both  of  the  denominational  college  and  seminaries.  The  basic 
courses  of  study  for  such  training  of  leaders  will  cover  the  in- 
spiration, value  and  use  of  the  scriptures,  the  theory  and  practice 
of  evangelism  and  religious  education,  the  history  and  theory  and 
practice  of  missions,  and  the  ideal  hope  of  a  Christian  social  order. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  in  a  summary  way,  that  practical 
theology  attempts  to  state  Christian  truth  in  such  a  way  as  to 
emphasize  its  experimental  religious  value.  Its  aim  is  to  present 
the  spiritual  message  of  Christianity  rather  than  its  archeological, 
historical,  and  speculative  results.  It  finds  its  message  centered 
in  the  vital  experience  of  the  living  God  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
creative  power  able  not  only  to  quicken  and  remake  the  personal 


30 

character  of  the  individual,  but  also  to  recreate  the  social  life  of 
mankind. 

It  may  be  said,  in  the  second  place,  that  its  purpose  is  to  enable 
the  minister  and  the  lay  Christian  worker  to  ascertain  and  use 
the  best  results  of  theological  scholarship.  Otherwise  the  practical 
work  of  Christianity  may  be  reproached  by  the  clear  judgments  of 
science  and  common  sense,  and  fail  to  be  truly  allied  with  the 
actual  needs  of  man  in  the  struggle  of  life.  It  will,  therefore,  be 
more  interested  in  stating  Christian  truths  in  immediate  relation 
to  the  present  needs  of  life  than  in  relation  to  their  origin  .and 
historical  development  as  such. 

Finally,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  department  of  practical  theol- 
ogy should  be  so  organized  as  to  enable  the  students  to  determine 
the  practical  applicability  of  the  knowledge  attained  in  each  of 
the  other  departments.  On  the  basis  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment studies,  the  proper  relation  of  the  Bible  to  the  home,  the 
Church,  and  the  Sunday  School  should  be  determined  in  the 
theory  and  principles  of  Biblical  and  religious  education.  On 
the  basis  of  the  historical  department,  the  present-day  religious 
movements  should  be  studied  and  accounted  for,  and  directive 
suggestions  offered.  The  dependence  of  present  forms  of  Chris- 
tian experience  on  the  past  should  be  emphasized  and  the  present 
experiences  should  be  studied,  in  order  to  see  and  understand 
the  new  departures  which  are  already  preparing  for  the  future. 
On  the  basis  of  the  department  of  dogmatics,  both  the  material  of 
preaching  and  the  content  of  religious  education  should  be  con- 
sidered with  a  view  of  expressing  our  present  Christian  conscious- 
ness and  meeting  the  actual  moral  and  spiritual  needs  of  life. 
And  on  the  basis  of  the  entire  scope  of  theological  education  the 
principles  and  doctrine  of  .a  Christian  social  order  should  be  set 
forth  as  the  present  and  future  hope  of  mankind. 


a< 


877188 

Manu/aclureJ  by 

©AYLORD  BROS.  Inc. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  Calif. 


BX9568 .P6A4 

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